Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: Wizard

  • The Warrior in My Wardrobe: More Misadventures with Merdyn the Wild!

    The Warrior in My Wardrobe: More Misadventures with Merdyn the Wild!

    Merdyn the Wild with his modern day world off-sider Rose and her amazing talking Guinea Pig Bubbles, are back in another crash, bang adventure, The Warrior in my Wardrobe, as they time travel into the Dark Ages to rescue Rose’s rather annoying brother Kris, who was mistakenly kidnapped.

    Actually, Rose was the one who should have been kidnapped as part of a seriously terrible, deadly and horrible plot to well, possibly get even with Merdyn for something that happened in his past and take over the world! Well, why not!

    Simon Farnaby brings his legendary droll wit to bear in this annoyingly fantastic adventure, dotted throughout with real facts, that help explain some of the ‘olde worlde’ in other words, Dark Age language used, because as you know language was used very differently then, as well as some of the history of the times.

    Because it is set in the Dark Ages, Arthur the future King of Camelot is part of the plot as Merdyn, later to be known as Merlin, is teaching him the skills of the craft of becoming King in his time and place in history. Excalibur is also in use, as Arthur insists on waving it around every at every opportunity.

    But back to the plot.  Basically Kris finds himself in the Dark Ages with no way out. He is a bit of a fashionista and is desperately trying to work out how to maintain his hairstyle and clothing, in a time when he is tied up, there is no running water and the food is terrible, to say the least.

    After several days of sulking and skulking, Rose realize Kris is not returning any time soon and it is up to her to put bygones by, so makes the decision to time travel, with of course Bubbles in her pocket, to see if she can find Merdyn and if they can mount a rescue mission.

    The rest you will have to read about for yourself as it involves great magic, huge luck, nasty, nasty people and a lot of very smelly stuff happening, before they and a few others are rescued but not without almost altering the future.

    Look out for the very quirky little twist in the final pages! Interesting and much food for another adventure, maybe!

    Oh, yes, Claire Powell has added to the mayhem with some fantastic cartoon style illustrations as sometimes, words will simply not paint the right kind of Dark Age pictures at all.

    Summation: Fantastic and if you have not read the first book, The Wizard in my Shed, treat yourself to both and have a terrific time revisiting time.

  • Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble: Magical Poems Chosen by Paul Cookson

    Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble: Magical Poems Chosen by Paul Cookson

    Hocus Pocus, diddley oakus is an old, old children’s chant when ‘magical’ thing were afoot, or at least it once was, with such fun to be had making play as witches, warlocks and other magical beings. Now from the brilliant concept created by Paul Cookson and Illustrated by his mystical, magical artist Eilidh Muldoon, the world of totally magical mayhem has been gathered together in book form Fire Burn, Caldron Bubble Magical Poems and they are too, magical that is and poems, most definitely.

    Cookson has cast his spell wide to command a totally madcap collection of poems gather together on the pages to cobble together a poem reading spell designed to enchant and captivate, as well as make you laugh and wonder at the very strange goings-on of the mystical, magical world of well, magic!

    Poems have been commanded from far away, time wise that is, as Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) wrote this poem, the much loved Song of the Witches for his famous play Macbeth. Graham Denton, a most intriguing modern wizard, wonders about how things could have gone so wrong in I Once Asked A Wizard. Hmmm!

    Here is a thing to contemplate; can you saw a poem in half, well maybe, but only when a wizard says Abracadabra but as this seems to be one very confused wizard, best you decide for yourself on page 99, which is the perfect for this sort of puzzle to hide! Valerie Bloom worries about what may happen in the night, when even ghosts are Scared of the Dark which is of course something we all wanted to know.

    But, perhaps, it is best if you begin at the beginning, which is a pretty good place to begin after all with De Magic Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah that explains it all. Carefully work your way through the magical poems, as you would if you were thinking of making a magical poem or spell of your own, until you arrive at the very beautiful A Feather From An Angel, which makes the perfect place to end a wonderful anthology of funny, serious, charming and spell binding poetry.

  • The Wizard In My Shed: The Misadventures of Merdyn the Wild

    The Wizard In My Shed: The Misadventures of Merdyn the Wild

    Straight out of the land of completely zany, madcap magic comes the cranky and frequently badly behaved, often bad tempered   Merdyn the Wild, Wizard, ops sorry, Warlock from the Dark Ages, a time somewhere about the time of Harry Potter and Hogwarts.

    Merdyn has to face Court in his time of 510; a time very long ago. The sentence issued to Merdyn by the King, somehow goes very wrong-ish and instead of Merdyn being banished to the Rivers of Purgatory for seven years, he ends up in the 21st century, a place Merdyn considers as bad if not worse! He considers he has been sent to hell!

    Rose is a very ordinary girl of the 21st century who loves to sing and believes she is on her way to becoming a singer of great fame and fortune, just like Beyonce. Her Mum thinks otherwise. Her family is in a mess and she is hoping to find a way to get things sorted out by following her dream, when she literally bumps into a very grumpy, strangely clothed man hiding in the park.

    From that moment in time, life in the 21st century becomes anything but normal for Rose and her beloved guineapig Bubbles, as they take on the role of helping Merdyn attempt to fit into a new way of life, with some seriously funny results.

    Now a guineapig known as Bubbles was mentioned, which as it turns out and with the help of Merdyn, becomes a very vocal part of this totally hilarious story. Claire Powell, noted for her magic illustrations has created a wonderful artistic representation of Merdyn and the crew, as they crash headlong into doors, order herbs for the magic incantations required on-line from Waitrose, all without bowing down to Merdyn the Wise (bow down before him or feel his wrath,) as he is wont to say when he gets upset, which is pretty often.

    The Wizard in My Shed is the first novel from writer Simon Farnaby, better known for his screen writing for Horrible Histories, Ghosts and a number of other shows. His completely whacky humour has found a new incantation in the character of Merdyn the Wise and life, as Merdyn will see it, of the 21st century.

  • Creatures : Harry Potter A Paper Scene Book

    Creatures : Harry Potter A Paper Scene Book

    The world of wizard Harry Potter is one filled with magic and so many wonderfully fearsome Dragons and creatures of the Otherworld such as Thestrals, Dementors and Acromantulas, along with of course the centaurs and a host of dragons, all adding to the wonderment of the mysterious world of wizardry.

    But spare a thought for the people who have lovingly crafted the works of JK Rowling, turning them into Movies loved and adored by many, bringing the colour and magic to life on the big screen. Guided only by the words of JK Rowling the filmmakers, the craftspeople who bring the world of magic to the screen, had to create creatures that were as fearsome and unique to the Forbidden Forest and the Black Lake that lived up to their reputations. What a massive challenge and one that fans of Harry Potter will agree they have done superbly.

    In this book of dioramas beginning with the Forbidden Forest we meet the Thestrals, a gentle species that choose to avoid humans because they are a bit different. The following pages are filled with information on the other creatures that also inhabit the Forest, with details about their size and construction, such as the Acromantulas which in the Movies are portrayed as small spiders, digitally created except for Aragog, who was a physical creation with an eighteen-foot leg span. Not so little after all!

    Dragons come next with their own luscious red diorama, as well as accompanying pages discussing the Norwegian Ridgeback, the Ukrainian Ironbelly and the Dragons of the Triwizard Tournament. Following right along is The Black Lake; its diorama filled with octopus like magical creatures and an explanation as to how Harry Potter managed to remain underwater for so long, to complete his challenge.

    The final diorama is Dark Creatures creating a world of swirling dark and filled with Dementors, the foulest creatures that walk this earth; creatures who love it like that and enjoy being used by Lord Voldemort for his own ends. This shows how Dementors, The Basilisk and Inferi were created and where their creators discovered inspiration for these dastardly creatures of the dark.

    Harry Potter Creatures is a treasure of a book which would be considered as the perfect gift for anytime of the year by all Harry Potter Fans and will become a treasured possession to add to every Harry Potter fans collection.